'Oyster card' for Coventry launched by local bus companies

Centro chairman John McNicholas with one of the new Swift travel cards being rolled out across Coventry

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

Coventry's answer to the Oyster card has had its official launch at the city’s Transport Museum.

The new electronic Coventry’n’Bus pass is the city’s first smartcard ticket and is the first of a raft of ticketing options to be made available by transport authority Centro on its new Swift smartcard.

The monthly pass costs £43.50 by direct debit and can be used on any bus in the Coventry area regardless of which company runs the service.

It means regular bus passengers in the city can save up to £18.50 a month on the cost of their travel, compared to a paper bus pass.

The launch follows the successful installation of smartcard readers on all of the region’s 2,400 buses and an agreement with Coventry bus operators including National Express Coventry, Travel de Courcey, Stagecoach and Johnsons Coach and Bus Travel.

Centro chairman Coun John McNicholas, who officially launched the new pass, said: “At a time when many families are struggling to meet the rising cost of living we hope this new Swift smartcard can offer a little financial help as well as making bus travel even easier and more convenient.

“The Coventry’n’Bus product is a great example of how smartcard technology allows us to offer more flexible, customised yet cheaper ticketing for passengers. Our priority now is to launch a range of ‘pay as you go’ products on Swift as soon as possible next year.”

The new pass is the first commercial product of its type to be made available on Swift anywhere in the West Midlands and marks a major step forward in Centro’s £14 million smartcard project.

Further ticket options for the city will go live next year, including one-week and four-week passes available on a ‘pay as you go’ basis.

Peter Power, managing director of National Express Coventry, said: “The introduction of Swift should make it even easier for people across Coventry to use buses to get to and from work, school and college.”

Geoff Inskip, chief executive of Centro, added: “The launch of the Coventry’n’Bus option is a real milestone – you only have to look at London’s Oyster card to see how successful smartcard technology can be in encouraging people on to public transport by making it quicker, easier and, of course, potentially cheaper to use.

“Once fully rolled out Swift will enable fare paying passengers to do away with the need for cash all together and instead make their journey using 21st century technology.”